Miller Recaps Summer & Duke Camp

John Watson

08/26/2009

Over the course of the week the Blue Devil coaching staff has extended some offers to players who attended Duke's Elite Camp. One camper who didn't need an offer was local prospect Quincy Miller who had secured one long ago. TDD spoke to Miller about the camp and his summer on Tuesday night.

"I thought my summer and the camp both went really well," said Winston Salem area power forward Quincy Miller. "I really thought I played well overall - especially at the Pangos event and the Nike Hoop Jam."

Indeed, the 6-foot-9 forward was impressive at the Hoop Jam where he tied for the camp scoring lead at 23.2 points per contest and prompted Scout's Dave Telep to write:

"He's a matchup problem when you factor in his athleticism and now the ability to keep defenders honest to the 3-point line. His rebounding is getting better as is his focus. Outstanding performances are beginning to be strung together and his status in the Class of 2011 is steadily on the rise."

Not that there's too much farther up the recruiting charts to go. Miller is already rated as a five star prospect and the nation's third best power forward. In the overall rankings he checks in as the nation's eighth rated player in the class of 2011. The big time rankings and performances didn't seem to be possible over a year ago, but then Miller made a choice that has helped propel him toward the top of his class.

"I think it came down to just changing my attitude overall. Before I would take myself out of games when I wasn't getting the ball or my shot wasn't falling. I realized that's not what great players do. They just keep playing. I want to be a great player, and I knew I needed to change."

Whatever it was that prompted such a reversal is certainly paying off as several schools have come calling and offered scholarships.

"I've got offers from Duke, Illinois, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Oregon, Florida State, Baylor, and a few others. Right now there's a lot of schools interested in me. I don't really have much of a list as far as favorites go."

Duke, in particular, has been aggressive in pursuing Miller - offering him a scholarship over the course of the summer. Since that time the coaches have spoken with the talented forward several times. However, until this week, he hadn't gotten a comprehensive view of the Duke campus. That all changed as he attended the Blue Devils' first ever Elite Camp.

"It was a great few days there. I got a chance to look around the campus and to meet people from the Duke family. It was cool to see their NBA players back and to see the current players. I'm cool with all the guys who are there and they all know me, so that made it easy to not be too nervous. I could just go out, play my game, and have fun with it all."

In particular MIller had a chance to work with camp coach and newly minted Bobcat rookie Gerald Henderson.

"That was pretty cool. He knew who I was and we had a chance to play together a little bit. I took him to the rim a few times. In the games he showed me a few things that were really helpful. I also had a chance to talk with DeMarcus Nelson and Jason Williams. Me and DeMarcus are real cool."

In addition to getting some tips from former players, Miller said he had a chance to get some one on one pointers from head coach Mike Krzyzewski in between the various games in the different camp sessions.

"He saw the way I played in the first game, and I was getting a little frustrated. He just told me to not to worry about doing certain things. That I needed to concentrate on relaxing and just playing my game and letting the game come to me."

One of the things Krzyzewski couldn't touch on during the camp was recruiting. However, that conversation came Monday night when the two parties connected on the phone.

"We talked on Monday night and it was mainly the recruiting stuff. One thing Coach K does is tell me the truth. He tells me what I need to work on in order to become an elite player and I trust him. He's worked with the best players in the world - LeBron, Kobe, Kevin Durant - who is my favorite player -, all of them."

Interestingly enough, Miller's favorite player just happens to be a favorite to make Krzyzewski's next team that will head to the World Championships next summer. It's also the mold that Krzyzewski looks for Miller to evolve into a a collegiate player.

"That's who he says I remind him of. And he's told me some great stories about Durant and some of the other guys. He talked to me about how they set goals and expectations on that level. How he was at one workout and Durant didn't like what happened, so he kept starting over until he got it right. Coach kept talking about his commitment level and what makes him so good. That's my goal as well and I know what I need to do to get there."